2005

The head of security for Death Row Records threatened to “get” Notorious B.I.G. in retaliation for the killing of Death Row star Tupac Shakur, Shakur’s former bodyguard testified Wednesday.

Kevin Hackie took the stand saying he feared for his life as a key witness in the federal wrongful death trial. The lawsuit filed by B.I.G.’s family blames the Los Angeles Police Department and city for the rap star’s death.

Hackie, who was an FBI informant while serving as Shakur’s personal bodyguard for three years, said his security boss, Reginald Wright, told him before B.I.G. was killed, “We were going to get those (people) who downed ‘Pac Biggie and his crew.”

California rapper Shakur was gunned down on the Las Vegas Strip six months before his New York rival B.I.G. was shot to death in Los Angeles. The slayings have long been linked in hip-hop lore and news media accounts, though never in court.

Source: yahoo.com

Welsh rock act the Super Furry Animals will release its seventh album, “Love Kraft,” Sept. 13 in North America via XL Recordings/Beggars Group. Internationally, the set will be released Aug. 22 and preceded on Aug. 8 by the single “Lazer Beam.”

“Love Kraft” was recorded in Spain with Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys) and features more songwriting collaborations between band members than on prior efforts. String arrangements were handled by the High Llamas’ Sean O’Hagan, and 100-member Catalan choir even turns up for an appearance.

Easing up on their political leanings, the Furries here offer a more personal set of songs. “The world is so ridiculously dark at the moment,” says frontman Gruff Rhys. “When you don’t know where to start politically, it’s sometimes easier to become inward looking or to enter the world of the imagination.”

Source billboard.com.

Indie rock touchstones Iron & Wine and Calexico have teamed for a seven-song EP, “In the Reins,” which will be released Sept. 20 via Overcoat Recordings. The two acts are also planning a collaborative tour, which will hit the West Coast in October and visit the East Coast in December.

“We’ve actually been trying to do this project for a couple of years,” Iron & Wine principal Sam Beam tells Billboard.com. “Calexico’s tour schedule is pretty intense, but we finally did it. We ended up using some of my old songs that either didn’t make it on my first two records or were out and about on the Internet. We tried to reinterpret them in new ways for people that may have heard them already.”

To read more, visit billboard.com.

BitTorrent users, beware: Your download may include adware and spyware.

Purveyors of the applications that produce pop-up ads on PC screens and track browsing habits have discovered BitTorrent as a new distribution channel. According to observers of the trend, videos and music that hide adware and spyware are increasingly being offered for download on various BitTorrent Web sites.

BitTorrent has grown into one of the most widely used means of downloading files such as movies or software. Unlike peer-to-peer networks such as Kazaa, eDonkey and the original Napster, no central search technology exists for BitTorrent. Instead, links to specific files are posted on Web sites.

While applications such as Kazaa have long been associated with adware and spyware, BitTorrent has not. Until now, that is. Chris Boyd, a security researcher who runs the Vital Security Web site, said he found adware and spyware hiding in BitTorrent files.

In one case, an episode of the Fox TV show “Family Guy” was bundled with several pieces of known adware, according to Boyd. “Under that kind of load, a midrange PC can easily go under,” Boyd said. Both spyware and adware are known to hurt PC performance because they use PC resources to run.

In other examples, music files and porn videos came bundled with adware or spyware, Boyd said in an e-mail interview. He suspects that online marketers have launched campaigns to get their software installed on more desktops using BitTorrent.

“This is one of the most egregious spyware infestations that we have seen,” said Alex Eckelberry, president of Sunbelt Software, a maker of anti-spyware software. “It is a major concern. It is going to riddle your system with pop-ups, slow your system down and potentially cause system instability.”

Full story: cnet.com

The Slip have begun recording their latest collection of songs for a new album. The band is working with engineer and co-producer Matthew Ellard (Billy Bragg and Wilco, Elliot Smith, Morphine) on this latest project which according to the band

The only Hasidic reggae star since – well, ever – will be bringing the word to fans across the U.S. over the next few months. Matisyahu has recently announced a string of dates from July through September.

Matisyahu’s tour begins on July 9 at Philadelphia’s World Caf